For the third time in 5 years, the Jacksonville Jaguars are trying to find a brand new head coach.
Huge Cat Nation’s Jaguars head coach hiring course of tracker is consistently being up to date — however to supply extra info on the highest candidates being interviewed, we’ll be releasing in-depth profiles all through the search.
Different head coach candidate profiles:
Subsequent up: Patrick Graham, who interviewed with the Jaguars on Saturday, Jan. 11.
Picture by Ethan Miller/Getty Photographs
Expertise
Graham performed on the line of defense at Yale, the place he gained an Ivy League title in 1999 and graduated with a level in sociology in 2002. He joined Wagner School as a graduate assistant for 2 years, then went to Richmond to educate their line of defense in 2004 and their tight ends in 2005 and 2006.
The Connecticut native joined Charlie Weis at Notre Dame as a defensive graduate assistant in 2007 and stayed for 2 seasons. He accepted a place at Toledo as line of defense coach in 2009, however he resigned after a month to hitch Invoice Belichick’s Patriots as a defensive high quality management coach.
In New England, Graham was promoted to defensive assistant in 2010 then linebackers coach in 2011. He switched to line of defense coach from 2012-13 then again to ‘backers from 2014-15. The Patriots gained Tremendous Bowl XLIX together with his assist.
Graham coached the Giants’ line of defense from 2016-17 earlier than turning into linebackers coach and run sport coordinator for the Packers in 2018. He received his first shot as defensive coordinator for the 2019 Dolphins. Graham returned to New York as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach from 2020-21.
In 2022, Graham was a finalist for the Vikings’ head coach emptiness, however the job finally went to Kevin O’Connell. Graham as a substitute turned defensive coordinator for the Raiders and was instrumental in setting up the franchise’s greatest protection in a long time.
Efficiency
2024 Raiders protection
- Factors per sport allowed: 25.5 (twenty fifth)
- First downs per sport allowed: 19.0 (eighth)
- Yards per sport allowed: 333.1 (fifteenth)
- Yards per play allowed: 5.4 (fifteenth)
- EPA per play allowed: 0.016 (sixteenth)
- Success price allowed: 43.4% (eleventh)
Passing protection
- Whole touchdowns allowed: 29 (twenty sixth)
- First downs per sport allowed: 11.4 (nineteenth)
- Yards per sport allowed: 216.2 (fifteenth)
- Yards per try allowed: 7.1 (twenty first)
- EPA per play allowed: 0.088 (seventeenth)
- Success price allowed: 47.4% (twenty first)
Dashing protection
- Whole touchdowns allowed: 14 (fifteenth)
- First downs per sport allowed: 6.0 (seventh)
- Yards per sport allowed: 116.9 (thirteenth)
- Yards per try allowed: 4.4 (sixteenth)
- EPA per play allowed: -0.098 (fifteenth)
- Success price allowed: 37.2% (seventh)
Situational protection
- Early down EPA per play allowed: -0.017 (eighth)
- Early down success price allowed: 42.6% (eleventh)
- Late down EPA per play allowed: 0.130 (twenty fourth)
- Late down success price allowed: 46.3% (sixteenth)
Quotes
An inside take a look at new Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham from his former gamers
From Dan Duggan for The Athletic (Jan. 14, 2020)
[Joe] Decide positioned a heavy emphasis on educating as a prerequisite for his assistants. Graham meets that standards.
“I actually felt like as a defensive lineman, having him, he was so technically sensible,” mentioned [Avery] Moss, who was in Graham’s line of defense room with the Giants as a rookie. “He’s a type of coaches that can over-coach someone. He’s so sensible, for those who discuss to him, you’re going to know he’s a Yale graduate. He’s a stickler about stuff, however I actually really feel like he is aware of his stuff.”
Patrick Graham Is Making a Defensive Masterpiece
From Greg Bishop for Sports activities Illustrated (Sept. 7, 2021)
Earlier than the Black Picasso painted his first brushstroke onto a white board, he started coaching for a soccer evolution he didn’t know existed. Graham devours Tom Clancy novels, research spy films and picks up advanced math and science ideas with ease. He’s a “nerd-in-training,” that means he’s analytical, comfy with numbers and processes—lengthy earlier than groups embrace these precise traits of their soccer coaches.
Why Patrick Graham’s Raiders protection may quickly have him in line for a head teaching job
From Tashan Reed for The Athletic (Jan. 2, 2024)
The Raiders protection has been reworked. This season, Graham’s unit is eighth within the NFL in scoring protection. The Raiders haven’t completed within the prime 10 in that statistic since 2002. A variety of the credit score has to go to Graham.
“He’s doing an excellent job main us and placing us in nice positions, and now we have quite a lot of guys which might be purchased in,” defensive finish Maxx Crosby mentioned earlier this season. “Everybody’s on the identical web page.”
How Patrick Graham’s adaptability spurred Raiders’ defensive renaissance
From Ted Nguyen for The Athletic (Jan. 15, 2024)
“There’s no Pat Graham playbook,” Graham mentioned. “Yeah, there’s stuff that comes from my New England time, my time at Inexperienced Bay. However to me, it’s all about who do you will have. What items do you will have?”
… There are quite a lot of coaches who say that they tailor their scheme to the strengths of their gamers however when the rubber meets the highway, they revert to what they know greatest. What we’ve seen within the 5 years that Graham has been a coordinator is adaptability — the one high quality that Belichick’s disciples failed to duplicate after they branched out.
Obvious pluses
- As Nguyen splendidly analyzed above, Graham adapts his scheme to his gamers relatively than the opposite approach round. His goal whereas sport planning is to take away the opposition’s largest energy. Graham “will get it” philosophically.
- Much like Ben Johnson, a energy of Graham’s is that he’s drawn in concepts from varied teaching timber relatively than having been born and raised in a single system. Belichick has clearly had an enormous influence on him, however Graham’s additionally labored underneath Steve Spagnuolo, Mike Pettine, Brian Flores, and different defensive maestros.
- Although he hasn’t been part of any actually elite defenses since his days in New England, the Graham impact remains to be evident all through his stops. The 2016 Giants had been essentially the most improved protection within the league that 12 months, and the Packers, Dolphins and Raiders improved underneath him as properly.
Lingering questions
- Is Graham head coach materials? Some coaches are merely higher suited as coordinators. Graham deserves a shot to show that he is head coach materials, however since he’s but to get that shot, whether or not he has the products to guide a whole group will stay a query.
- Would he have the ability to rent a robust employees? Each assistant coach issues, however particularly these on the offensive facet of the ball since Trevor Lawrence is on the crew. Graham’s choice for offensive coordinator can be main.
- What’s Graham’s identification? The Jaguars want a brand new tradition. Doug Pederson by no means had a constant message for what he needed his soccer crew to be. Whoever the subsequent head coach is should be higher about speaking the group’s core values.
Jaguars followers, how do you’re feeling about Graham? Tell us within the feedback!